Demented Reverie
by puffnbob
Summary: Robin; her dreams are twisted and tattered. What happens when they take control?


Disclaimer: I can't, truthfully, say that I have any rights to Witch Hunter Robin… no matter how much I wish it otherwise.

Warnings: Gore. A lot of gore and violence. And don't get mad at me because of certain…plot pieces…that will be made apparent as you go on.

Demented Reverie

One-Shot

Robin screamed, her thin form writhing as she fought to bring herself to consciousness. She panted, honey-colored hair heavily shading her pain-wracked eyes. Clutching to her thin white sheet like a lifeline, emerald eyes darted around her peacefully familiar bedroom.

Suppressing her fears, Robin forced herself to get dressed and prepared for a long day of hunting witches. Brushing her amber locks somewhat soothed the visibly distraught girl, allowing her the leeway to smother her fears and to hide them behind a carefully constructed façade before she left the safety of her room and ventured into the kitchen of the apartment.

Touko had left a pot of deep brown coffee prepared for her young roommate, the older woman already long gone. Tentatively, Robin's slender fingers stretched themselves out to grasp for the all too welcome coffee.

"I've been having the same nightmare since the first day I can remember. I really should be used to it by now," Robin muttered to herself, berating her own weaknesses towards a simple illusion in her mind, "Great, now I'm talking to myself. Can things get any better for me?" She downed the rest of the lukewarm liquid still in her mug, setting the cup into the shining sink before she pulled on her leather ankle boots and left the oddly calm apartment.

The craft user allowed her body to drift into an automatic state, her mind bordering the undefined gray area of alertness as she miraculously drove to the slightly foreboding building christened Raven's Flat. She floated to the elevator, closing her eyes briefly on the ride up to the floor where the others waited. Gracefully, she steeled herself, forcing the last tattered fragments of her intense emotions behind her mask as her booted feet led her into the heart of the office.

Various pairs of eyes flicked up at the soft rustle of her skirts, quickly returning to whatever project they may have had in front of them. Robin languidly flowed to her assigned seat, folding her hands onto her lap as she fell into the low chair. For the longest time, Robin simply sat and her glazed forest eyes seemed fixed on her blank computer monitor.

"Robin," a cold voice snapped from behind her, rousing her from her dark thoughts. Startled, she turned and her brilliant green eyes locked with icy dark gray ones. Amon stared disapprovingly at her, waiting for another sign of life from the obviously distressed girl.

"Yes, Amon?" Robin piped up weakly, her eyes falling back to her hands. Her partner wound his pale fingers around her upper arm and yanked her to her feet. The hunter tugged her out into the corridor, casually disregarding the confused and, yet, intrigued stares he received from his co-workers.

"What is wrong with you?" Amon asked coldly, causing Robin to shrink away from him slightly.

"Nothing," Robin lied softly, her face lowered towards the hem of her dress.

"Look at me," Amon ordered harshly, continuing only after Robin's neck straightened out and her eyes burned into his own, "Now tell me, what is wrong with you today."

"Why do you even want to know, if there was something wrong with me?" Robin inquired sadly, her eyes glistening lightly with unshed tears. Amon shifted his weight from foot to foot as he carefully weighed different responses against each other.

"You would be a liability on today's hunt, if you are somehow unfit for duty," Amon stated monotonously, sounding as if he was reciting a line from an unknown code of conduct that the fifteen-year-old was never introduced to.

"I'll be fine," Robin snapped, a light briefly illuminating her shadowed eyes sockets. She stormed past her slightly shocked partner, rushing back into the haven the office provided. Amon walked in after her, pausing momentarily to collect his thoughts into orderliness before he followed. The other members of the STN-J looked up at him with expecting eyes, praying that the stoic man would offer some information about what had just transpired in the hallway.

"Michael, do you have our target for today?" Amon questioned, yet again choosing to ignore his co-workers' need for answers. The hacker meticulously typed a few lines of code, his finger flying over the keyboard. He brought up a few pictures and a text box, gesturing for everyone to review the information on their own screens.

"As you can tell, this witch isn't even worth holding a meeting before the hunt," Michael commented casually as everyone read, proud that he had managed to condense all the information on the witch into a couple of paragraphs.

"One of us could pull the hunt off alone," Sakaki said brightly, obviously volunteering to go.

"We'll all go," Amon stated, his voice so final that no one dared to breathe for almost thirty seconds after he spoke. At that point, Amon's dark eyes narrowed into slits and they all scampered to fetch their coats.

They all filed out into the elevator, talking in hushed tones as they walked. Amon stood at the doorframe, his calculating eyes passing each of the hunters over as they nervously looked at him and faltered slightly in their steps.

"You'll stay," Amon said tersely, catching the collar of Robin's crimson overcoat as she attempted to pass him. Her head spun towards him, bangs swaying slightly, so she could see if he was truly serious.

"You said that we'd all go," Robin protested faintly, not quite up to voicing her opinion to oppose Amon. She pouted innocently, green eyes widening. Amon twitched imperceptibly, growing oddly uncomfortable under her shimmering gaze.

"I don't think that you're fit to be on this hunt," Amon stated pithily, focusing his eyes on one of her burgundy wrapped pigtails so he wouldn't have to look into her eyes.

"I'm fine, Amon, I really am," Robin near-yelped, a foreboding feeling settling heavily in her stomach at the mere thought that she wouldn't be allowed to go, "Please, let me go. I'll wait in the car. I'll only come out if you need my help."

"I don't want anyone getting hurt because you were distracted," Amon said coolly, before his eyes softened and he placed a warm hand on Robin's shoulder, " I don't want you to get hurt. Just stay here; you can go on tomorrow's hunt." He gently pushed her backwards into the main office, making her stumble over the hem of her long dress. By the time Robin had caught herself and was able to look up, Amon had already vanished.

Dejected, Robin shuffled over to Michael and dropped herself into the chair beside him. He cast her a curious glance from behind his amber glasses, quickly returning to monitoring the team when only hurt and confusion-filled green eyes met him.

"Okay, Amon, you're at the right building. There are four entrances, one on each side of the building. With the intelligence that I've been receiving from the building's security cameras, the witch has positioned himself in the very center of the building," Michael explained over the communicators, switching over to the speakerphone with one glance at Robin. He thought it was only fair that she be included, even if Amon didn't think so.

"Thanks," Amon said briefly, turning off the communicator so he could instruct the other three on what to do.

"I suppose I would have just been the fifth wheel," Robin muttered sadly, her head swaying from side to side gently.

"I'm sure Amon had his own reasons for leaving you behind," the hacker said kindly, trying to console Robin as best he could. She half-smiled weakly, the corners of her mouth twitching infinitesimally. Michael grinned brightly at the girl, overjoyed that he had gotten her to smile at him.

"Has the witch changed locations?" Amon's icy voice questioned over the phone, crackling vaguely from the interference being generated by their target. Michael diverted his attention away from Robin so he could bring up security footage from the cameras he had trained on the witch.

"No, he's still there. I'd hurry though; he seems to be chanting something," Michael warned, zooming in on the witch as he spoke.

"I understand," Amon said sharply, "We'll keep you updated on our progr." The channel cut out and turned to pure static. The pair remaining in the office exchanged worried looks briefly, the hacker desperately trying to restore the communications channel.

The cold, harsh sound of the phone static resonated around the room as Michael typed furiously, his fingers nearly blurring because of the sheer speed. Robin's head was hung as she recited every single prayer that she had ever been taught.

"The network should be back up by now," Michael whispered to himself, glancing over his handiwork as it appeared on the screen, "I can't do anything else." Robin was on the verge of tears as she thought of what could be happening to her friends, dark and morbid imagery flashing through her mind.

"Trap…witch…too powerful!" Karasuma screamed over the distorted channel, her voice cutting in and out, "Help us!" Robin bolted to her feet, prepared immediately to go save her friends, but stopped in her tracks when the speakerphone came back to life.

"Don't send Robin," Amon growled, his message barely audible but his point well made. The craft user was torn between desperately wanting to save her friends and not wanting to disobey a direct order from her partner. A moment's deliberation later and she was sprinting for the elevator.

Before she knew it, her Vespa was topping out at full speed as she sped down a series of alleyways and back roads. Robin's bangs whipped in the wind around her face, stinging her porcelain skin.

The building where the target was loomed over Robin as she parked her Vespa, pulled off her helmet, and darted inside. Everything was silent as a catacomb; the only noise that of her boots tapping on the light gray cement floor. Robin slid into the shadows, praying that she wouldn't make a wrong turn and end up at one of the exits instead of the center.

The sickening smell of freshly spilt blood filled the air, growing heavier with every step Robin took. She rounded a corner and collapsed to her knees, overcome with a violent wave of nausea.

Blood covered everything, dripping languidly from the ceiling into ruby puddles dotted on the floor. Slowly, Robin forced herself to stand and venture further into the pure bloodbath. From the sickly glowing patches of Orbo scattered amidst the carnage, it was quite obvious that it had no effect on the witch. The craft user cringed and had to force her stomach back under control when a sticky glob of crimson splattered in front of her, splashing up on her black dress.

"Amon! Karasuma! Doujima! Sakaki!" Robin called out weakly, stepping over bodies as she went. The bodies must have belonged to witches that the target had controlled or, more likely, tricked into allies before he slaughtered them. Orbo couldn't rip a body limb from limb and scatter the innards across the room.

Bodies began to blend together as Robin picked her way through the massacre. Her only thoughts focused on not tripping and falling in to the bodily fluids that form a sticky sea on the once spotless cement.

"Help me," a voice called out faintly from Robin's left side. Her head snapped around, forest eyes darting in the gloom. Just as she was going to resume her gruesome trek, her eyes focused in on a pair of Orbo guns awash in half-dried blood lying next to what she had thought to be dead bodies.

Robin darted forward kneeling on the disgusting floor next to Doujima and Sakaki. Her blonde friend was holding Sakaki, desperately trying to wake him and completely oblivious to her own soon to be fatal wounds. Gashes marred Doujima's flesh every few inches; the fresh pool of blood that had formed around her had mostly poured from her own body.

Gingerly, Robin pulled Sakaki from Doujima so she could appraise his wounds. A second later and she wished that she hadn't; his limbs were scarcely hanging on, dozens of tiny slashes had severed the flesh and exposed the bone. His skin was still warm to the touch, but cooling with every passing second.

"Come on, Doujima, let's go," Robin said soothingly, fighting back her own flood of tears as she forced her near-hysterical friend to stand and walk towards the exit.

"We need to get Sakaki," Doujima yelped, not realizing the extent of damage and blood loss caused by nearly being dismembered.

"I promise that I'll go get him later," Robin said gently, knowing that one of them had to keep a straight mind or they would both be killed. She pulled her still frantically mumbling friend along, holding Doujima up when the girl stumbled over the bodies strewn over their path.

A spray of crimson spurted onto Robin's porcelain skin; the warm liquid stung her eyes and caused her to lose her grip on Doujima's silent form. Robin, shocked by how quickly Doujima had collapsed onto the floor, let her emerald eyes slowly lower.

"Oh my God!" Robin screamed, stumbling backwards in horror. She tripped over a corpse and slammed to the floor; suddenly, she was offered a much better view of the steel spike driven straight through Doujima's throat.

"You must be Robin," and echoing voice called from the shadows, "You shouldn't be here. When I was killing your friends, I'm pretty sure that they made it clear they didn't want you here." A sadistically painted laugh bounced off of the gore-covered walls.

"You're a monster," Robin spat, her fury rising in her chest, "You shouldn't even be allowed to live." She was fumbling in her coat pockets, frantically trying to find her half-moon glasses.

"Ah, such harsh words for such a little girl. I'm going to have to punish you," the voice continued, pausing when a weak cry of pain sounded, "But, first, I want you to find your friends. It seems at least one of them still live. Perhaps you can comfort them before they die. Now go, before I change my mind." Robin scrambled to her feet, ignoring the mostly crimson goop that she was covered in. She slowly walked around; praying that whoever had called out would do so again.

"Robin?" Karasuma questioned softly, trying to lift her head so that she could better see the craft user. Her prone form was sprawled out in an oddly empty space, only framed by blood. Her limbs were twisted in such a grisly manner that they looked like someone had tried to wrench them off.

"I'm here. Don't worry," Robin muttered, dropping to knees next to the older woman. She ran her fingers over Karasuma's face, wiping bits of crimson away.

"Just get out of here, Robin, just leave now. Don't even stop to think about us; we're already dead. Save yourself. Go back to the office. Get Michael. Get out of Japan," Karasuma breathily warned, her fierce eyes burning into Robin's orbs, "He'll hunt you down and kill you if you stay. Just hurry and escape while you can still move."

"I promise. But I want to take you with me," Robin soothed, speaking in pacifying and even tones. She pushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear, grimacing at how slick the strands were.

"Weren't you listening to me? You have to leave by yourself! Go now," Karasuma cried, slipping out of consciousness as soon as she finished. Her breathing went shallow, stopping all together after another moment.

"Oh, how touching! Her last spoken words were instructions for you to leave," the voice teased, "It's just too bad that you couldn't do so even if you wanted to. You're trapped in my world now. Just go find your last friend and help him die peacefully, if he's still alive. Then I can kill you and be done with it. Hurry, little girl, my patience grows thin."

Tracing a path through the macabre field, Robin quickly found Amon. Steel pipes were coiled around his throat and limbs, suspending him from the ceiling as he fought to free himself.

"Thank you, little girl, for finding him," the voice stated, the pipes around Amon's throat winding tighter. Blood poured from the broken flesh, streaming into the dark material of his clothes. With a final squeeze, scarlet spurted from the dark man's mouth and splattered onto the floor. Robin stared at the blood and at Amon's perfectly still body, salty liquid tracing clean paths along her filthy face.

"This can't be happening. No! Never! This isn't right! This wasn't supposed to have happened. Not now, not ever!" Robin screamed, bashing her hands against the support pillars, "They're all dead!" Cold laughter filled her ears, meshing with her sobbing to form a ghoulish form of music.

"This isn't right!" Robin yelled, squeezing her emerald eyes shut as she fought to keep the laughter from her mind.

Robin screamed, her thin form writhing as she fought to bring herself to consciousness. She panted, honey-colored hair heavily shading her pain-wracked eyes. Clutching to her thin white sheet like a lifeline, emerald eyes darted around her coldly familiar room.

Her eyes settled on the stark white walls, the obviously steel door set with a single small window. Robin stared in horror at her surroundings, hyperventilating when she couldn't figure out where she was.

"Calm down, Robin," Doujima said as the door was unlocked to allow her in, a syringe held delicately in her hand, "Just stay still and this will make you feel much better." She carefully held Robin's arm and stabbed the needle into a vein, releasing the calming drug into the girl's system.

"Doujima…you're supposed to be dead," Robin whispered, clutching at Doujima's collar.

"Really? That's odd," Doujima said casually, straightening her nurse's uniform, "I guess the witches got me again."

"What do you mean by 'again'?" Robin asked, falling to the tiled floor in her haste to stand up.

"You had a bad dream again, that's all. Now get back into bed," Doujima soothed, pulling Robin back on the edge of the mattress. She pushed the girl backwards, yanking the blankets over her.

"It wasn't a bad dream!" Robin yelled, struggling against Doujima's grasp.

"Yes, it was. You've been having them ever since before your parents brought you here last year," Doujima stated calmly, using nearly all of her weight to hold Robin down.

"I wasn't raised by my parents," Robin screeched, clawing at Doujima's arms, "I never knew them. You're supposed to be dead. None of this can be real! None of it!"

Robin screamed, her thin form writhing as she fought to bring herself to consciousness. She panted, honey-colored hair heavily shading her pain-wracked eyes. Clutching to her thin white sheet like a lifeline, emerald eyes darted around her peacefully familiar bedroom.

Finish?

Author's Note: Hello, people, do you remember me? The girl with The Joys of Parenthood story? Well, if you're still interested, leave a little note and I can email the links to where you can read the stories and my newer stuff as well. If you're not, still leave a note and tell me if you liked this story. Thanks you. huggles


End file.
